Successful Practices & Strategies Vol. 5 | No. 5 

Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles 

Los Angeles, California 

www.hacla.org 

Community policing element 

Community partnerships 

Problem/issue 

Trust and community safety 

Problem description 

In the more than five decades since the Watts Riots of 1965, the Housing Authority of the City of Los 

Angeles (HACLA) and other public sector agencies in Watts offered only partial solutions to the lack of 

safety in three gang-entrenched housing developments: Nickerson Gardens, Imperial Courts, and Jordan 

Downs. Similarly, a lack of investment and relationship building by law enforcement had compounded 

the issues of Ramona Gardens in East Los Angeles. The lack of violence within Ramona Gardens, also a 

HACLA housing development, masked the level of fear gripping residents, who were afraid to report 

crime because of gang intimidation and a lack of civic engagement. 

Community policing strategies implemented 

The Advancement Project (AP) is a community-based organization that promotes justice and equity in 

communities. The AP and Connie Rice were a major influence working with Chief Charlie Beck and 

HACLA leadership to implement the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) program. The concept was to 

deploy 10 officers and a supervisor in each of the four housing developments to begin building 

relationships and addressing quality of life issues and concerns. 

The Training Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) developed 40 hours of training 

unique to the CSP program. This specialized training was designed to teach the concept of community 

policing and partnerships; to enhance the ability to work as a team; and to cultivate the ability to plan, 

establish, and manage multiple scenarios that may arise in public housing developments. HACLA 

provided 20 hours of training to teach the CSP officers about the role of HACLA, how the public 

organization functions and resources that officers could utilize when working in these communities. 

The areas impacted by the CSP program are Southeast and Hollenbeck Community Police Stations. The 

program began on October 9, 2011, with the training, and the officers deployed in the community on 

November 6, 2011. This was not an enforcement-focused program. The officers were directed to avoid 

making nonessential arrests and to focus on innovative ways to create trust and humanize themselves in 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the community and the community to the officers. They were tasked with developing relationships with 

residents, developing programs to support the residents with their primary focus on youth and 

addressing quality-of-life and violent crime issues. 

Over the next four years some programs that were developed and implemented include the following: 

•	 A football program coached by officers and each program has a tutoring and mentoring component 

•	 An aggressive Safe Passage program partnering with community volunteers and grassroots 

community organizations to get kids to and from school safely 

•	 The first Girl Scout Troop in Watts as well as a Girl Scout Troop in Ramona Gardens 

•	 Camping trips provided and funded by the Harold Robinson Foundation at Canyon Creek Camp for 

more than 200 youth and their parents, with CSP officers participating, the purpose being to build 

family, humanize the police and community to one another, establish communication skills, and 

erase gang lines through team building 

•	 Educational programs implemented to include providing scholarships (K-four years of college) 

funded through Operation Progress (OP), which was founded by a CSP officer and focuses on 

providing a solid education in private schools for promising youth living in violent communities 

•	 Tutoring programs partnering with students from USC, UCLA, and East Los Angeles College 

•	 Partnership with Children’s Institute Incorporated (CII), which has become a significant partner 

addressing many social and mental health issues 

•	 Alternatives to arrest and booking programs such as Sunburst Youth Academy 

•	 Consistent communication and outreach with the Mayors Gang Reduction and Youth Developmentintervention workers 

•	 Ramona Gardens Senior Club in which CSP officers and funding provide different activities, 

educational seminars and quarterly field trips 

Change and/or impact as a result of these community policing efforts 

Every CSP program implemented has a point and is focused on solving a specific social issue. In addition, 

each has created a relationship and improved relationships. However, the most significant 

accomplishment of this effort has been the reduction in violent crime in the Watts community. In 2014, 

Southeast Area documented 10 homicides in Watts compared to 22 in 2011, a 54.5 percent reduction. 

Between 2002 and 2011, there were 70 homicides in Jordan Downs, Nickerson Gardens, and Imperial 

Courts (an average of 7 per year for 10 years). From 2012 through 2104, there have only been five 

homicides (an average of 1.6 per year for 3 years), and because the relationships built between 

community members and CSP officers, four of the five were solved within two weeks. Across the city of 

Los Angeles, communities have witnessed an increase in violent crime. In the communities of Watts, 
 

 

homicides have decreased 38.5 percent and part I crime has shown a 6.1 percent reduction from 2014 

to 2015. In the community of Ramona Gardens there has also been a continual decrease in crime. It is 

clear that the CSP program has prevented many homicides. 

The opinions contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an 

endorsement by the author(s) or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement 

discussion of the issues. 

The Internet references cited in this document were valid as of the date of publication. Given that URLs and websites are in 

constant flux, neither the author(s) nor the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services can vouch for their current validity. 

Published 2018